Oracle to acquire enterprise software firm Responsys for $1.5 bn

US technology giant and the world's second-largest software company after Microsoft, Oracle Corp is buying Responsys Inc, an enterprise software firm, for approximately $1.5 billion, aiming to create the world's largest marketing cloud.

Under the terms, Oracle will acquire all the outstanding shares of Responsys at $27 per share in cash, excluding debt. The offer price represents a 38-per cent premium to Responsys' closing price of $19.52 on Thursday.

San Bruno, California-based Responsys is a leading provider of cloud-based business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing software. Responsys is used by most B2C brands across the globe to coordinate marketing interactions across email, mobile, display and social advertising across the web at massive scale.

The deal has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of Responsys.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2014, subject to Responsys' shareholders tendering a majority of the company's outstanding stock, as well as required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The acquisition will help Oracle to extend the reach of Oracle marketing cloud. "By bringing together Responsys and Oracle Eloqua, chief marketing officers (CMO) will be equipped to drive exceptional customer experiences across marketing interactions from a single platform," the ERP giant said in a statement.

Oracle's president Mark Hurd said, ''Recognizing the unique needs of the CMO in business-to-business (B2B) and B2C industries, the Oracle marketing cloud is now the only platform to unite enterprise-class leaders in these historically distinct marketing-automation fields.''

''Our strategy of combining the leaders across complementary technologies signifies Oracle's overwhelming commitment to winning and serving the CMO better than any other software company in the world,'' he further stated.

Responsys CEO Dan Springer explained, ''When combined with the full Oracle Customer Experience Cloud, for the first time, companies will be empowered to orchestrate individualized experiences that extend from marketing, to commerce, to sales, to service, to support,'' Oracle's executive vice president Thomas Kurian said.

Redwood City, California-based Oracle specialises in developing and marking computer hardware systems and enterprise software products. The company's annual revenue is around $37 billion.

Oracle has been one the most aggressive acquirers in the technology sector in recent years. In October, the company bought BigMachines, a cloud-based price and quote solution provider and also Compendium, a cloud-based content marketing platform. Earlier acquisitions this year include Acme Packet, Nimbula and Tekelec.

Earlier this week, Oracle reported its Q2 results beating analysts' forecasts, after passing through rough terrain in the previous quarters. Revenues were up 2 per cent at $9.3 billion while net income was down one per cent to $2.6 billion and EPS surged 5 per cent to 0.56 cents.